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One more time: Malzahn says Jeremy Johnson 'excited' to start in home finale

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jeremy Johnson points towards the ROTC section after scoring a touchdown against Idaho on Nov. 21. Johnson was a former U.S. Army All-American selection from G.W. Carver High School.(Photo: Albert Cesare / Advertiser)

AUBURN – One more time Jeremy Johnson will be introduced as the starting quarterback at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The player who in his four years as an active player has been eagerly anticipated, cheered and booed in his home stadium will be one of 20 seniors honored before No. 15 Auburn hosts Alabama A&M.

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn announced Thursday night on his ‘Tiger Talk’ radio show that the senior from Montgomery will be getting his first start of the 2016 season. This announcement came about 48 hours after Malzahn easily admitted that the last two seasons were more than difficult for Johnson emotionally and mentally.

“Obviously it’s been tough the last two years on him,” Malzahn said Tuesday. “I think everybody knows that. He’s handled himself well, been there for his teammates trying to help us any way he can.”

Auburn officials have confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser earlier this season that Johnson received death threats after starting the 2015 season with six interceptions in the first three games. The former U.S. Army All-American lost the starting job less than a month into his fourth year with the program when he admitted to being “surprised” to be a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate without having much experience beyond a backup role to Nick Marshall as an underclassman.

“It’s like I tell people all the time, life is about obstacles,” Johnson said after the A-Day spring game. “I hadn’t been starting for three years. That was my first year starting. It happened. I have my confidence back and now I feel even better about where I’m at as a person and as a player because your character and how you handle things, take you a long way. I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Following a 2015 season where he’ll always be remembered for losing the starting job to Sean White, Johnson regained the job due White’s knee injury. After regaining the position, Johnson finished with a team-high 10 touchdown passes and only allowed one interception in the final 10 games of the season.

“The very impressive thing is a lot of times young men that age they transfer, they quit, they leave,” Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. “He pushed through it. You've got to be extremely proud of him for that…I am proud he's pushed through that and been a great teammate and Auburn man and said 'I'm going to graduate from Auburn, I love Auburn. I want to help this team win in whatever capacity that is’.”

CLOSE

Quarterback Jeremy Johnson said he's staying at Auburn for his senior season.

Even though Johnson said definitively that he would be back for his fifth season at Auburn, rumors persisted that he would transfer for an opportunity to be a starter at a different program. However, there Johnson was in the spring and fall camp competing for the starting job he had previously lost.

“Your job is to ask questions and do what you do. I’m going to be here. I’m going to stay here,” Johnson said after the A-Day spring game. “I’m going to compete for the starting job, get my degree in December and go about my business.”

Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson (6) walks off the field during Auburn's NCAA spring college football game Saturday, April 9, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. (Photo: .)

Johnson has not been made available to the media following any practice or game since the fall camp began for the 2016 season. The only answers the public have gotten about Johnson’s mentality or performance in practice is from teammates and coaches.

“He's a real good guy off the field,” Auburn wide receiver Marcus Davis said this past August. “He's a real team guy, family guy and he's happy for Sean. He told me he's going to do whatever it takes to help the team. I'm pretty sure he felt some type of way because everybody wanted to be the starter but at the end of the day, he's going to do whatever it takes to help the team."

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn high fives Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson (6) after he scored a touchdown during the NCAA football game in the Birmingham Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.
Albert Cesare / Advertiser(Photo: .)

In the same week he was told he wouldn’t be the starting quarterback for the 2016 season opener against No. 2 Clemson, Johnson’s grandfather was tragically killed in a car accident. Johnson still participated in practice while dealing with the grief of losing a trusted and loving family member and was involved in the three-quarterback game plan against Clemson. In the 19-13 loss, Johnson tossed a critical interception among the six attempted passes and was stuffed on a fourth down conversion. After those plays, the familiar boos at Jordan-Hare Stadium cascaded down. The “storm” that Malzahn said Johnson had passed through was back again as he took a confidence dip in the 2016 season opener.

“Jeremy went through a storm last year and the way he’s responded in the spring, in the summer, he’s responded very well,” Malzahn said on July 11 at Southeastern Conference media days in Hoover. “He’s operating with a chip on his shoulder.”